Pruitt vs. Smart in battle of ex-Bama coordinators
Jeremy Pruitt and Kirby Smart square off against one another on Saturday in Athens when Tennessee and Georgia engage in a battle between two former Nick Saban disciples.
Pruitt faces the first true road test of his early tenure on Rocky Top with a matchup between the hedges of Sanford Stadium against the No. 2 Bulldogs (4-0, 1-0 SEC) led by Smart — who Pruitt replaced as defensive coordinator at Alabama after the 2015 campaign.
The Volunteers (2-2, 0-1 SEC) enter the game with a bit of a limp after a 47-21 loss to Florida in Pruitt’s SEC debut a week ago.
“For me, you find out a little about yourself when adversity hits, and I thought some of these guys were trying to find a way,” Pruitt said of the Vols effort against the Gators. “A lot of these guys played their best football Saturday. It takes everybody, it takes all 11 on each play, and we have to get a few other guys to raise their level of play. We have to take care of the football and finish at the end of plays.”
Tennessee turned the ball over six times against Florida, the most since coughing it up a half dozen times in 2016 against Texas A&M. Of those errors, four of them came via the ground, to give the Vols six fumbles lost on the year, most in the SEC.
Despite some of the early struggles, Pruitt’s program is showing signs of finding its own identity on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the team’s six plays of 50-plus yards this year have already eclipsed the four from the 2017 season.
“We had more explosive plays than Florida,” Pruitt said.
“We had eight, and they had seven. I do think you do want to be more productive on first down. That is something we need to do. I think Saturday we were 8-of-18 on third down, but I think five of the third downs we didn’t convert were three yards or less. Those are the third downs you are supposed to convert.”
The biggest uptick for the Vols has come on defense where Tennessee, conversely, has been a staunch defender on third downs. Opponents have converted on just 12 of 49 attempts (24.5 percent) to rank the Tennessee defensive No. 3 in the SEC and sixth nationally.
The contest Saturday is the second matchup this year against a ranked opponent for the Vols, who lost to No. 17 West Virginia, 40-14, in the season opener.
Tennessee is 7-8-1 when facing the nation’s No. 2 team. The program last defeated a second-ranked squad in 2001 with an upset of rival Florida in Gainesville.